Don't Bet On It!: National Game of Disinterest (Week 8)

I don't know about you, but I'm finally getting excited about football again. There's at least one important conference game we'll all be watching this weekend. There are also some pretty intriguing match-ups across the country. Ludakit and chuckdawg have previewed the Kentucky game, which hopefully will be a blow-out so the Goat Roast doesn't turn lachrymose. This weekend has a lot of potential. Heck, we've already swept Abuurn in volleyball and Tech in tennis. What could go wrong? Well, you could accidentally watch this week's National Game of Disinterest: BYU at No. 5 Notre Dame (-13.5).

OK, let's get this out of the way right up front: the Irish are a good team this year. I'm not sure they're the fifth best team in the country -- the six opponents they've faced so far this season have a combined record of 22-16 -- but they appear to have a stout defense and have fixed the turnover problems that plagued them last year.

BYU, on the other hand, is mediocre at best. Their defensive numbers look alright until you realize that Oregon State has the best offense they've seen so far. Yes, the same Oregon State that ranks 102nd nationally in rushing yardage per game. And the Beavers dropped 42 points on the Cougars.

If it weren't for the fact that Notre Dame's starting QB was only cleared to practice yesterday after suffering a concussion last week, the line would probably be higher than two touchdowns. Since both teams are independents, there aren't even any interesting implications for anything other an Irish loss (which won't happen). The only reason that this game is even on TV is that NBC was dumb enough to overpay to renew its exclusive contract with Notre Dame. (This may be because the average NBC executive remembers watching the Four Horsemen play for the Irish.) There's simply nothing interesting to see here unless you're a rabid fan of one of these teams.

Go Dawgs!